Forgive me for sounding like a flip-flopping politician when I say my position on the World Series evolved from benign neglect to rabidly rooting home the victorious Los Angeles Dodgers.
That’s why, in the wake of the 5-4 Los Angeles triumph Saturday night/Sunday morning in an 11-inning Game 7, I’m here to rub salt in open Canadian wounds.
I’m not alone. A quick scan of social media began with the X page of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney (Barker) and it did not disappoint.
Like too many hosers from the Great White North (a climate, not racial characterization) Carney Barker has attempted to leverage sporting success into national pride.
A so-called Carney curse has been detected since he has showed up just in time to sink hopes of the Edmonton Oilers, the Canadian men’s soccer team and now, the Toronto Blue Jays.
Carney Barker took to his X account in the immediate aftermath of this latest setback and used a fractured heart emoji to characterize it as a heartbreaking result. He went on to praise the Jays in coming up short, but trying hard and in the process making Canada so proud.
Responses were priceless. Here are a few examples.
“Carney, you are Prime Minister, do something about this.”
“Now you know how Canadians feel watching you strike out on trade deals.”
“No one understands didn’t get it done quite like Carney.”
“This is an interesting take given that only one of the 26 players on the Jays WS roster were born in Canada, and IDK if Vlad Jr. identifies as more Canadian or more Dominican.”
“As a Canadian, I’m glad they lost just so you wouldn’t be able to brag about it. Let’s consider this another American triumph over Canada!”
Elsewhere, headlines screamed of mourning, very sad Blue Jays fans and a crushing loss. Imagine how sad these Jays fans will be if they start losing thousands of jobs due to tariff problems. Trade accounts for about two-thirds of Canada’s GDP and most of that is with the United States.
Back to the World Series, it began with some tepid, uninteresting games. But, along the way, it gathered momentum and produced some epic contests.
I tuned in to Game 3 in the 7th inning of a 5-5 game. The game ran for 18 innings, equaling a World Series record. It had Dodger Shohei Ohtani reach base on all nine plate appearances, clubbing two homers and two doubles before the Jays walked him five times, four of those intentional.
Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman hit a walkoff homerun, for a record second time in his World Series career, to end the marathon game.
That win gave the Dodgers a 2-1 series lead, but they coughed it up with losses in Game 4 and Game 5, sending them back to Toronto needing to win twice to secure back-to-back championships.
Blue Jays fans were planning their victory celebrations, but the Dodgers won both games, sending the home fans into the Toronto night to ponder yet another failure to finish the deal. Recall, this is a city whose NHL franchise has not won a Stanley Cup since 1967.
Game 7 was a classic, again requiring extra innings, this time 11. It saw the Blue Jays drop leads of 3-0 and 4-2. The Dodgers entered the 9th trailing 4-3 and got an unlikely homerun from Miguel Rojas, just his second of the season off right-handed pitching, to tie the game. In the bottom of the ninth, second baseman Rojas threw out the potential winning run at home.
Eventual Series MVP, Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, got the win, his third of the Series, after Dodgers catcher Will Smith lashed a homer in the top of the 11th. Yamamoto had pitched a complete game in Game 2, 96 pitches in Game 6 and then tossed the final 2 2/3 innings to close Game 7 a night later. Incredible, particularly in an era when starting pitchers think making it through five innings is a quality effort.
Let’s not forget the fourth-inning tiff that revived memories of the 4-Nations Face-Off between the U.S. and Canada. While some headlines screamed “brawl” it was more a meet-and-greet after a No. 9 Blue Jays hitter with delusions of grandeur based on his unexpected batting prowess in this Series, somehow thought he had been hit intentionally by a Dodgers pitcher with no one on base and the top of the batting order up next.
I had written previously that both teams losing would be a fitting result, but I came to understand it was better to keep the title in these United States.
Yes, Los Angeles is a leftist city where illegals get prime consideration and English is a second language. But, the Dodgers won the World Series in quintessential American fashion. They showed grit and determination, and spent a whole lot of money to get it done.
Along the way, they reminded Canada of the international pecking order, including in sports. And they just might have given pause to the prominent American socialists like Bernie, AOC and Mamdani.
Free enterprise still prevails.
Sam Ross Jr's site 